This application claims the priority of French application FR/01.01402, filed Feb. 2, 2001, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention pertains to the field of gliding sports and, more particularly, to that of Alpine skiing. It concerns more specifically an accessory component which allows the binding to be fitted and adjusted easily on a ski. It relates more precisely to an interface plate which is intended to be secured to the upper face of a ski.
In general, a ski binding is composed of a toe piece and a heel piece. Traditionally, the toe piece and the heel piece rest directly on the upper face of the ski, onto which they are screwed.
Numerous devices have already been proposed so that the toe piece and the heel piece are not screwed directly onto the upper face of the ski, but instead are secured to the latter via additional components.
For instance, the document FR 2 128 919 describes a ski on which a first plate is fitted, the side edges of which plate are profiled to form two slideways. This first plate accommodates a second plate, which consequently has a capacity for longitudinal sliding. The toe piece and the heel piece are fitted on the second plate in such a way that it is possible to move both the toe piece and the heel piece relative to the ski, so as to adjust the mid-point of the boot, i.e. so that the riddle of the boot can be positioned at various points over the length of the ski while maintaining a constant toe-piece/heel-piece separation. The adjustment of the toe piece and the heel piece, with a view to adapting to the size of the boot, is carried out as on a traditional ski, by acting on the toe piece and/or the heel piece.
Furthermore, the document EP 0 346 414 describes another improved binding device. The device for fitting the binding comprises two lateral rails which are secured to the ski. These two lateral rails are in the form of a slideway and receive two connecting rods which can adopt several different positions with respect to the lateral rails, by sliding between the latter. The toe piece and the heel piece of the binding are fitted on these connecting rods. By temporarily disconnecting the connecting rods and the slideways, the toe piece and the heel piece can be moved simultaneously in order to adjust the position of the middle of the boot relative to the ski.
The adjustment of the position of the toe piece and the heel piece, with a view to adapting to the length of the boot, is carried by acting on some adjustment screws. In this way, the position of the toe piece and/or of the heel piece is adjusted relative to the connecting rods, and hence relative to the ski.
It will be understood that this adjustment device is relatively complex since it requires many components, which reduces the reliability of the system and increases its cost price.
Furthermore, in the case of the two particular devices mentioned above, as well as in the case of traditional fitting, the screws for fitting the binding either on an intermediate device or directly on the ski occupy lateral space relative to the toe piece and the heel piece. The need for this lateral space imposes constraints on the geometry of the toe piece and of the heel piece.
It is an object of the invention to provide a system which allows simple adjustment of the positions of the toe piece and of the heel piece in order to adapt to different boot sizes with the fewest possible mechanical pieces.
It is also an object of the invention to permit straightforward replacement of a part of the binding, i.e. the toe piece or the heel piece, that is to say without the need to re-drill the plate or any intermediate component.
The invention therefore relates to an interface plate which is intended to be secured to the upper face of a ski. This interface plate is capable of accommodating the toe piece and the heel piece of the safety binding.
According to the invention, this plate is characterized in that it has a longitudinal recess forming a slideway capable of holding projecting parts situated under the toe piece and under the heel piece, while allowing the toe piece and the heel piece to slide inside the slideway with a view to adjusting the binding to the length of the boot.
The profiles of the zones of the slideway respectively holding the projecting parts situated under the toe piece and the heel piece are geometrically identical.
In other words, the plate according to the invention is fixed onto the ski by connecting screws, or any other equivalent means, which are located in a unique position, irrespective of the adjustment position of the toe piece and of the heel piece. The interaction between the plate and the toe piece and the heel piece takes place inside a slideway which has the same profile over its entire functional length, i.e. at least in the zones in which it holds the protruding parts situated under the toe piece and the heel piece.
Hence, in order to adjust the binding to the length of the boot, it is sufficient to modify either the position of the toe piece or that of the heel piece, by making them slide in the characteristic slideway.
By virtue of this geometry, the toe piece and the heel piece can occupy a larger part of the length of the board, since no screw is necessary for immobilizing the position of the toe piece and of the heel piece relative to the slideway. Better guiding of the ski is hence obtained.
Furthermore, since the slideway is integrated into the plate, the total height of the plate/toe-piece or plate/heel-piece assembly is reduced compared with the prior art.
The characteristic plate of the invention can be used in various ways. For instance, this interface plate may have its lower face coming directly into contact over its major part with the upper face of the ski. This case may involve a simple metal sheet which is fixed onto the ski during the manufacture of the latter.
In a second example, the characteristic plate may form an elevation platform separating the toe piece and the heel piece by several millimeters from the upper face of the ski. In other words, the elevation platform incorporates the slideway for adjusting the toe piece and the heel piece.
In one particular form, the interface plate forming an elevation platform may have lateral portions directed downwards and intended to interact with the ski.
According to one characteristic of the invention, the slideway may include at least one region located in the zone accommodating the toe piece or the heel piece, the said region forming a rack with which means for longitudinally adjusting the toe piece or the heel piece interact.
Advantageously, in practice, the plate includes at least one cavity accommodating a panel supporting the rack. In other words, the bottom of the slideway has a recess containing a notched zone, or rack, Interacting with a worm screw situated in the toe piece or the heel piece. In this way, by acting on this worm screw, or on an equivalent means, the toe piece and the heel piece can be moved slightly inside the slideway with a view to adjusting their positions.
The racks may also be produced directly in the bottom of the slideway, by machining or the like.
The interface plate according to the invention can adopt various geometries. For instance, in a first variant, the plate extends continuously between the zones receiving the toe piece and the heel piece, which makes it possible to obtain by design a slideway which has an identical geometrical profile between the toe-piece zone and the heel-piece zone. It may for example be obtained by extrusion, or it may be produced from a profiled metal section, or it may alternatively be moulded.
In an alternative version, the slideway may be interrupted in the central area of the plate, so that the latter includes two slideways which have the same geometrical profiles and are arranged in alignment with one another. In this case, the central zone of the plate, extending on either side of the middle of the boot, does not have the means for holding the protruding parts situated under the toe piece and the heel piece.
In another alternative embodiment, the characteristic plate may be formed by two individual plates respectively accommodating the toe piece and the heel piece, these individual plates being joined by a connecting portion. In other words, the central part of the interface plate, which does not accommodate either the toe piece or the heel piece, consists of an additional component which does not include the slideway but which provides connection between the front individual plate and the rear individual plate, each of which include slideways having identical geometrical profiles.
In a particular embodiment, the slideway has a profile including a flat bottom and two lateral zones forming a lip returning in the direction of the longitudinal mid-plane of the interface plate. In this way, the geometrical profile of the slideway makes it possible to restrain the protruding parts situated under the toe piece and the heel piece, which have an overall inverted-T profile. The ends of the horizontal branch of the T are then restrained by the lips of the lateral zones of the slideway.
In a more improved form of the invention, the toe-piece/heel-piece and interface-plate assembly also comprises means for moving the toe piece and the heel piece simultaneously and in the opposite direction when the binding is being adjusted to the length of the boot.
In other words, when acting on the toe piece or the heel piece in order to move it, the opposite movement of the heel piece or the toe piece is automatically induced, so that the toe piece and the heel piece move away from or towards one another.
These two elements therefore move symmetrically about the mid-point of the boot.